Nature is inspiring on a daily basis, and Spring is the time of year when it shows off it’s full arsenal of majestic life affirming miracles.
However it is also the time of year when this terrifying spectacle occurs…
Will Boyd-Wallis uploaded this video to Cairngorms Nature’s Facebook page which shows thousands and thousands of Wood Ants, or Formica, waking up and enjoying the sun.
Have fun trying to sleep after you watch this… is your hair itchy?
As the name wood ant implies, many Formica species live in wooded areas where there exists no shortage of material with which they can thatch their mounds. One shade-tolerant species is F. lugubris.
However, sunlight is important to most Formica species, and colonies rarely survive for any considerable period in deeply shaded, dense woodland.
The majority of species, especially outside the rufa species group, are inhabitants of more open woodlands or treeless grassland or shrubland.
Mound building, forest dwelling Formica such as F. rufa often have a considerable effect on their environment.
They maintain large populations of aphids on whose secretions they feed, and which the ants defend from other predators.
They also prey on other insects and are used as a control species for insects seen as pests.
